Air cargo handling apparatus



March 11, 1958 J, RENNER ET AL 2,826,319

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Unite rates Patent AIR CARGQ HANDMNG APPARATUS Elmer Renner, Aurora, andllack ll). Train, Palatine,- Ill assignors to StephenoAdamson Mfg. Co., a corporation of Illinois-- Applicationflctoher 1955, Serial "No. 539,335

12 Claims. 4 (Clb214- -89) t-he groundinto the cargo holds of the'plane. In some cases an-inclined conveyor is used to reach the cargo holds located in higher positions in the plane. When the cargo has all'been loaded inthe' plane, the empty carts are removed and returned to'the cargo accumulation station; The methodis simply reversed" for un loading the plane.

Another knownmethod' for loading an airplane is to load the cargo upon forkliffltrucks anddrive the loaded trucks intoposition'near the cargo holdsinto which the cargo is to be transferred, where the lifting mechanism of thetruck raises the cargo'into position for such trans-, fer; Again, the methodisreversed' for unloading. the airplane.

A's is-well known, both these' methods are cumbersome and slow: This is'particularly annoyingvto passengers who have travelledhundreds of miles very quickly, and then forced to wait possibly 20 minutes or more before receiving their luggage'whichis being unloaded from the p ane. experiences in otherwise satisfied-passengers-has made the need for a more efii'cient cargo handling methoda compelling one. However, despite many efforts made to devise alternative methods and apparatus, no satisfactory substitute has been found prior to this invention.

Another disadvantage in the use of conventional equipment, besidesthe inefiiciencyj of loading-and unloading a particular plane, is the fact that-simultaneous operation of several such mobile pieces of equipmentmay-cause a traffic snarl which slows up not only the servicing of the plane being unloaded, but also variousunloading and servicing operations of the otherplanes inthe airport.

Furthermore, using fork lift trucks, tractor borneinclined conveyors, or tractor drawn baggage carts, creates a serious risk of damage to thepassengers' baggage; to the plane itself, and .to other mobile equipmentused in-cargo handling operations, as well as the risk of personal injury tov baggage-handling personnel and passengers. Experience has shown that plane damage alone causedby-the mobile equipment is of alarming proportions.

The method and apparatus of thisinvention avoid all these disadvantages. Both loading and unloading of airplanescarriedout according to. this invention. arefast and inexpensive. Moving all-cargo'along a predetermined path-in the preferred embodiment by means of an endless conveyorbelt-avoidsthe necessity of having mobile trucks, with their attendant trafiic and safety. problems This, inventionislintended for use with a special form The'exasperation often-times'produced bysuch 2,826,319 Patented Mar. 11, 1958 2. of airplane towing mechanism which is adapted'totow the airplane 'rearwardly into an exact predetermined position with respect to a relatively fixed cargo conveyor for cooperation therewith. The towing equipment is no'part of the present invention, and need not'here be'describ'ed. All that is required is that the airplane be accurately positioned with respect to the cargo conveyor system, and, this of course could be accomplished'in-any number of ways.

The apparatus of. this invention includes oneor more cargo pallets which areloaded at'a loading station" and then moved along'a pre'determined path to a cargo hold.

of the airplane, where each pallet'is hoistedinto the air into a' position from which the cargo it carries may be conveniently transferredinto a cargo hold ofthe plane. The pallet is preferably propelled between the pallet loading station and the cargo hold of the plane by. means t of an endless conveyor belt, andas the palletarrivesat the hoist it automatically trips a switch which causesthe hoist to raise the pallet off the conveyor beltI In the method of this invention, the loaded'cargopalemb'odiment'of the apparatus shown in the-accompanying.

drawings. In the drawings:

Figures 1A and 1B give a diagrammatic perspective view of one embodimentof the apparatus of this invention;

Figures 2A and 2B give a diagrammatic side elevation;

of the same embodimentj Figure 3 is a side elevation of one feature of the em bodiment;

Figure'4 is aplan view ofthe samefeature;

Figure 5 is a plan view of one embodiment of the cargo.

accumulation and pallet loading station;

Figure 6 is a sectional view of the turntable at said station, the view being taken along line 66 in Figure 5;v

Figure 7 is an enlarged plan view of one feature shown in Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a' plan view of an alternative arrangement for acargo accumulating and-pallet loading station;

Figure'9 is a sectional view of the turntable at that station taken'alongline 9-9 in Figure 8; v

Figure 10 is an enlarged'sectional view" taken along line 10--10 in Figure 8';

Figure 11 is a plan view ofthe middlep'ortion of "the embodiment of this inventionshown in-Figures 1A and- Figure 12 is a plan view of the outer end of the em-- bodiment of this invention showninFigur'es lA and lB;

Figure 13 is a side elevationof the structure'shownin Figure 12;

Figure 14 is a 'sectional view 'of a seal lip-used between adjacent sections of the conveyor belt'shown'in Figure'l Figure 15 isa side elevation of. the hoist, shown 111" various positions, which is employed at the inner and middle plane loading stations in the embodiment of this invention shown in Figures 1A and 1B;

Figure 16 is an end view of the hoist andcargo pallet comprising one embodiment of the cargo elevator. of this invention;

Figure 17 is an end view of a hold-down device em ployed with said embodiment;

Figure 18 is a. side elevation of the same device;

Figures 19A and 193 show an end elevation of the embodiment of Figure 16 when the hoist is in its elevated position; 

